The Royal Wedding

OK, I have to confess. I got up at 5am to watch the royal wedding.

Why did I do it? And why did 2 billion other people around the world do it? It does seem strange. Yet, after it was over, I was glad I did. The whole world was intrigued because there was an energy of promise hanging over this one that one could feel even before it happened.

Marriage is traditionally a union between a man and a woman, and royal marriages have been traditionally unions between nations, or at least suitable royal families with the goal of establishing opportunistic alliances. In this way, royal weddings are symbolic of things larger than just the man and the woman getting married, and as such, command a greater audience because they have a larger symbolic significance. The pomp and circumstance that goes along with them is very dramatic and fun to watch, but also serves to remind us that tradition is not only important, but the very thread that holds society together.

But this wedding was different, and so the energy leading up to it was different too. Kate and Will give every appearance of being a very contemporary couple, and it was widely rumored that they wanted to make their wedding very intimate and personal. But how were they to do this in front of 2,000 guests in Westminster Abby with all of the traditional ritual that would have to be followed?

Yet they truly pulled it off. Catherine’s dress was simple but elegant, and William’s uniform followed suit. There was no bevy of bridesmaids and groomsmen, only the bride’s sister, the grooms’ brother and some children. The Bishop of London’s remarks were personal and spoke to both the couples’ individual personalities and their individual circumstances, that is, the future king and queen of England. And the couple wrote together a prayer read by the bishop that spoke to both of their commitment to service not only to their country but to the greater good in general.

In addition, the backstory is even more important in setting the energy of this wedding. Kate is not a royal, so this wedding was not about the union of families and alliances. Unlike his father, William chose his bride for himself. Whether he was allowed to do this in light of the fate of his mother, or whether he simply insisted will probably remain unknown for a while. What is perhaps even more astounding is that he and Kate have lived together for quite a few years before even an engagement was announced. I would have like to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation with the Queen.

Long before the actual wedding, the energy was different because the people were different, the context was different, and the symbolic meaning was different. This is why the whole world was watching.

William and Catherine’s wedding is a union of royalty and commoner, symbolic of a world where social equality is becoming much more acceptable, sought after and even required. The whole world is beginning to understand that inbreeding, whether in aristocracy, academia or business limits opportunities, stifles innovation and harms the gene pool.

This wedding is also about the union between past and future, tradition and innovation. Along with the majesty of the Abby, the traditional service, the footman, carriages, horses and honor guard, there were also the intimate looks and whispered familiars of two young people who are deeply in love, long familiar with one another, and who know exactly what they are doing and who they are. In these troubled times it is symbolic of the hope that the past and future do not have to be at war, that we can create a world where tradition and innovation can live happily side by side just as they did in this ceremony.

Because it all worked perfectly.